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Morgan Wallen often shares love for his hometown and alma mater, even sharing a picture of his baseball team on Instagram. Another artist was quick to poke fun at the One Thing at a Time country artist, jokingly calling him a baseball player from the 1930s. 

Morgan Wallen returned to his high school for one Spotify event with ‘One Thing at a Time’ 

Morgan Wallen performs during the iHeartRadio Music Festival
Morgan Wallen performs during the iHeartRadio Music Festival | Michael Tran/Getty Images

To promote One Thing at a Time, Wallen returned to his alma mater Gibbs High School in Knoxville, Tennessee. This surprise was in conjunction with a partnership with Spotify and came with a live performance at his hometown.

“I love this place, and am having so many different feelings that I didn’t know I was gonna feel,” Wallen said in a statement for Billboard. “At one point today, me and my dad and my son were out there on the field, and it just kinda made sense, and I’m really so proud to be from here.”

The country artist also donated $35,000 to the school’s sports and performing arts programs, posting about the experience on Instagram. 

Diplo poked fun at Morgan Wallen’s sepia-tone baseball picture 

On the social media platform, Wallen shared a video of his return to Gibbs High School, where he spoke to students and invited them all to a concert. He captioned it, “Thank you for a special night.”

The reel earned thousands of likes, with Hardy saying he was “stealing” the idea. Fans shared their support for the hometown pride. However, another artist, Diplo, commented on the post, mentioning one unique aspect of his high school experience. 

“Bro did u play baseball in the 1930s,” Diplo said. He was referring to a team picture of Wallen in the high school, printed in sepia tone, even though it was dated 2010.

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Are Diplo and Morgan Wallen friends?

It’s unclear exactly how Diplo and Wallen became friends — the two explore different spaces in the music scene. In 2020, Wallen was featured on Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley, Chapter 1: Snail Oil, singing “Heartless.”

“It’s way very different than anything I’ve done before,” Wallen said during an interview with Billboard. “I’ve always liked all kinds of different types of music. Right after high school… the first time I ever recorded music was with a rapper, a friend of mine, and I would just be like, ‘I’ll sing your choruses.’ So I would sing his hooks, and he would go in there and rap.”

“If a song can make you feel something, then that’s what’s most important,” he added, “and it did, so I’m glad it’s out.”

The track earned over 365 million Spotify plays and came with a music video featuring the artists. Diplo’s album featured other prominent artists in country music, including Orville Peck and Thomas Rhett.